I killed your King
by MEStarr
Summary: Set during the Telmarine vs Narnian battle. Susan finds she has to leave Lucy to find Aslan on her own while she stops the soldiers. When something goes slightly wrong, how does she get through the upcoming battle? Susan/Caspian


"_Keep it; you might need to call me sometime."_

The last thing I'd said to Caspian before Lucy and I had left, she'd laughed and repeated it over and over until we got out the fortress. There was about a fifty meter gap of open land before we got undercover of the thick trees of the forest. Our horse was incredibly fast but there were two of us.

I took the rains over Lucy's head and kicked him on, we galloped flat out over the grass, I could feel Caspian watching us go but I didn't look back. I felt sure that we'd been seen by the Telmarines however we quickly passed the first few trees.

We ran along the bottom of a steep hill, above us was the battle field but we couldn't be seen by the Telmarines above. But then I heard Lucy's shout, "They've seen us!"

I looked up, sure enough; seven mounted soldiers were following us. They were a fair distance behind and with any hope we'd be able to outrun them, but I knew well enough that they'd have crossbows and would no doubt bring us down that way. Their crossbows could get much further than my arrows.

Swearing under my breath, I put on another burst of speed, taking us further into the forest. We got into a large clearing where we could no longer see them. Here I stopped and slid of the horse.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked, shocked as I pushed the reins into her hands.

"Looks like you're going to have to go on your own after all Lucy." I smiled; she looked so tiny up on that huge horse alone. She looked terrified, "It'll be okay Lucy. You can do it." I assured her but her expression didn't change.

"It's not me I'm scared for! You can't fight them alone! There are seven of them Susan!"She said, her voice getting higher and higher.

I took her face in my hands, "I'll be okay. Just go. Go find Aslan!" I said, when she didn't react I slapped the horse just behind the saddle. It jumped before thundering off, slowing for a second to get between some trees where Lucy turned and cast me one final glance; I just smiled reassuringly.

She disappeared, with a deep breath, I turned around to face the Telmarines; not yet visible to me, they would not get to her if I had anything to do about it. I pulled out a bow and arrow and aimed. The first was down before he saw me, the next three fell the same, my aim was, as usual, sure. However, by the time I'd got another arrow, they were too close.

One rode close past me at an incredible speed, not hesitating at all, his sword slashed my arm but not too deep as I jumped out the way almost in time. I just had time to pull out my sword before another came past, sword at the ready. The force at which his hit mine threw the sword straight out my hands, the sound echoing through the forest.

An arrow whistled past my ear, impossibly close. I swore and looked around, the three remaining Telmarines stood around me in a wide circle. Two had crossbows, the last had a sword; I was now unarmed. By the time I got an arrow out I'd be dead, the same fate if I decided to run. I swore under my breath again. Their horses were restless, snorting and rearing.

The two with crossbows shot arrows within seconds of each other, apparently at some signal from the third. I missed the first by a hairs breathe, only not the second; it sank deep into my right side.

I swayed as a sudden wave of dizziness swept through me, and with is a searing pain. It was like a fire was roaring inside me, burning and scolding me inside. Such a pain I'd never felt before, it was excruciating.

I could feel the drumming of the horse's hooves coming towards me again, but I could hardly see the shapes. Surely they weren't going to hit me again!

Shaking myself and remembering that these men had no mercy, I reached down and tugged the arrow out of me. They pain peaked and I stumbled to the side, managing to avoid the soldier's blade in the process.

Something big and heavy hit me from the other side and I fell to the ground. My eyes closed and I heard the sound of clashing blades. I could hardly feel the ground beneath me over the pain that seeped through my body. I pressed my hand over the wound, it was damp and sticky.

"Susan! Are you alright?" Caspian's voice came out of nowhere. I dragged open my eyes to see him leaning over me. I sighed, clearly he hadn't noticed my blood soaked dress, I was glad. He held out a hand to me and I took it. But the speed I got to my feet with caused another wave of dizziness and I stumbled right into Caspian's arms. "Whoa! What's wrong?"

I put a hand to my head and stood up again, using his shoulder as a support. "Just, dizzy. Got a headache." I murmured, a lie, but a good lie.

"Okay. Let's get on the horse." He said cautiously. I managed to get on his big bay horse well enough, though with a lot of pain that I somehow managed to hide from him.

The ride back to the battleground was quiet enough, and nothing much was happening once we got there either. Caspian helped me down; we'd stopped in front of the fortress now, about twenty meters away from Peter and Edmund. He didn't let me go as I expected though, he held onto my arm and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Susan, can I ask you something?" he said, quietly so the nearby Narnians couldn't hear. I nodded and looked back expectantly, "Why weren't you fighting back there?" he said suddenly after a few seconds silence.

"What? I was!" I said defensively, he raised an eyebrow, "They were too close for me to use arrows and I'd lost my sword. I couldn't actually do anything!" he still didn't look convinced though, "Why do I have to explain myself to you?" I asked after another short silence.

He looked down and muttered a quiet apology before we approached my brothers. Peter was looking worried at my return. "Where's Lucy?" he asked as soon as we were in hearing distance.

"We were followed. I had to let her go alone." I explained, one hand rubbing my temple to try and stop the dizziness. Peter frowned at me, and then saw the rip in my sleeve and the blood surrounding it.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

I sighed, "That's just a scratch. I managed to kill four of the soldiers. Caspian got the rest." I said, moving my hand to cover the scratch.

Edmund was watching me closely, apparently noticing my behavior and thinking it strange, "Are you sure you're alright Su? You look really pale." He said, I shrugged slightly and smiled. Casting me one more concerned look, they continued talking about the upcoming battle and the plan. Peter was to fight Miraz alone on the battlefield; if Peter won, Miraz and his army would surrender and the Narnians would be free to live. This side would also leave Narnia in Caspian's control; the rightful heir. However, if Miraz won, then his army would wipe us all out and the Narnians would simply cease to exist. We couldn't let that happen. When Edmund had gone into the Telmarine camp to present this to Miraz and the Lords, we'd agreed that it should be a fight to the death, at least Peter did.

As they discussed this, another wave of dizziness came over me and I stumbled forwards again. Peter caught me and helped me to my feet again, "What the hell is wrong with you Susan?" he asked, confused now. I shook my head and muttered an apology quietly.

Eventually we finished the final planning. I was, as usual, the lead archer and was to stand with the other archers on the third tier of the fortress, just above the entrance. From here I could just see the small paved area where Peter would fight the Telmarine king.

After twenty minutes or so of anxious waiting, a shout from below alerted us to the approach of five horses. In the middle, rode Miraz in his extensive armor, not hard to miss. To his left and right was the General of the Army and one of the main Lords. The remaining two riders were just guards for protection.

They stopped and grouped across the stones from Peter, Edmund, Caspian and a few other Narnians. I wanted to be down there with them; I couldn't hear anything here and could hardly see for the dizziness. But then again, if I was down there I'd just faint for sure; at least here I could lean against the wall. I still felt slightly out of control though, just because I was a girl I was always left on the sidelines of these things. I understand about Lucy, she's only 13, but I'm the second oldest in the family and I'm still not allowed to be on the frontline!

I thought about Lucy, hoping against hope that she was okay, that she had found Aslan. We'd had a huge argument earlier about her going on her own. She'd wanted to while Peter, Edmund and I had been opposed to the idea. In the end I'd offered to go with her and, much to Caspian's annoyance, Peter and Edmund agreed after some persuasion.

A while later, the sound of clashing swords brought me out of my thoughts. Apparently they'd begun a while ago. I could just see them fighting below. Peter was a good fighter and the best swordsman in the family, Edmund being the second.

From what I could see, Miraz had lost his helmet and Peter part of his armor. The dwarf standing beside me tugged gently on my sleeve to gain my attention. "Forgive me your Majesty, but are you feeling okay? You're swaying."

I shook myself and assured him I was fine; I must have lost a lot of blood by now; the pain was still bad, aching. Looking back down towards the fight, I noticed Caspian looking up in my direction. I couldn't see his expression though.

The next thing I knew, Miraz was kneeling, disarmed and injured in surrender before…Caspian? Peter stood a few meters behind, staring triumphant at the pair. Caspian was pointing Peter's sword into Miraz's neck. I scowled in confusion; what had just happened?

Then Caspian was walking away, giving Peter back his sword as he turned to follow back to Edmund. Miraz was being helped up by the Lord. Something was happening between them, the Lord made a strange movement and Miraz froze.

"What-?" I murmured to myself, and then I realized what was happening. Miraz fell back, an arrow sticking through his armor.

The Lord suddenly began to shout after a few minutes of silent shock on everyone's part. "LIARS!!! They killed him! THEY KILLED OUR KING!!" he bellowed, pointing up towards me.

Caspian, Peter and Edmund all looked up at me in shocked confusion as I stared at Miraz's dead body. The arrow had red feathers at the end…one of my arrows, one that everyone recognized as mine. I looked back at my brothers in confusion, my bow was slung behind my back, I couldn't have shot him!

Everyone heard the Lords next shout, "WAR!!!" he screamed, now on his horse and they were all galloping away before we could stop them. What!?

"Susan? What happened?" Peter shouted up at me, I held my hands out. He shouted another order but I didn't hear it, a huge boulder suddenly smashed against the other side of the wall. I didn't see anyone hurt but stared across the field.

"Catapults!" I muttered to the dwarf beside me, not knowing if he heard or not. Peter made a signal to me and I nodded, "AIM!" I shouted, loud enough for all the archers to hear. Fifty bows pointed into the sky, arrows at the ready. Another signal from Peter and a shouted the final order, letting go of the string in my hand to release the arrow. The swarm of arrows whistled through the air, bringing down the first two lines of the oncoming Telmarine army.

More boulders hit the walls around us but each time people dodged them, nobody yet had been hurt. I shouted the order to fire at will, more arrows were released, more soldiers fell. I shot a few, my aim slightly off; I could hardly see anymore and the sound didn't help. Despite this I managed to bring down one Telmarine every time, even if it wasn't my intended target.

Suddenly, there was a deafening crash as another huge boulder crashed against the wall just below me. The ground gave way under my feet and I was falling; someone's hand grabbed mine and held on. After a second, trying to blink away the dizziness and the sudden pain, now coming from my wrist too at the jolt; I looked down. There was a small, broken ledge only three meters or so beneath me, below that at least another six so I'd have to land sure.

I took my chances, letting go of the hand and falling again. The drop was longer than I anticipated but I landed well on the ledge. The dwarf shouted my name but I assured him once again that I was okay.

With my back pressed against the wall, I closed my eyes in an attempt to stop the constant spinning and to prevent myself from falling of the three foot ledge. There was so much movement and noise around me; both armies had now met in the middle of the field and were fighting, the archers above me continued to bring down the Telmarines. One thing that Narnians were good at was fighting. In this little space, even if I could, I wouldn't be able to shoot an arrow, and I wouldn't have much space to dodge them either. If a boulder hit I would be dead.

As if my thought had triggered it, a huge, grey boulder flew past at that minute and shattered against the wall only five or so meters from where I stood. I thought myself okay, until a small shard of the rock broke off, it hit me hard on the side of my head.

Once again I was falling, though this time I landed on another, longer ledge. I could feel grass brushing my cheek as I lay on my side, my long black hair hanging over my face. The spinning became unbearable. I could feel a bruise forming in my head and the familiar wet stickiness.

I closed my eyes, trying to block out the screams and crashes around me; I just wanted to sleep now, I wanted quiet, peace. I gave up fighting to stay conscious. The heavy fog began to slip through the cracks, swallowing me up.

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